A racing pulse, a fresh heartbeat, a new movement... for the future of Nigeria
This is the Afro Beat.

Thursday, March 27, 2008

I believe the children are our future...

ok, so Whitney's not exactly the role model of the year these days but....

This one's very near and dear to tAB. Check out The IMPACT Initiative's website and email impactnigeria@gmail.com if you've got any ideas or would like to get involved in some way. At the moment, they're currently working on planning the next youth forum and trying to organize an event for university undergraduates in Nigeria (possibly a career explorer program or a career fair) so watch this space.

Exposing youths to various educational opportunities at an early stage may just be the spring board that will prepare them into leadership positions in the country.At the second Annual Youth Forum in Lagos last Friday, pupils from various secondary schools in the state converged for a mentoring programme aimed at redirecting their focus towards assuming leadership roles in their various fields of endeavour. The Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the IMPACT initiative, Ms Jemine Rewane, noted that, "The current resource constraint of the Nigerian education system and the dearth of organisations providing academic guidance, professional support and forums to encourage community activism do not encourage youths to tap into their leadership potential early. The earlier youth are able to do this, the greater their impact in their communities will be. It is this impact that is required to take our nation a step further to create a better Nigeria."

IMPACT is a newly established organisation focused on leadership development and maximising an individual's capacity to contribute to the community.

According to her, "Our vision is to help develop a Nigeria full of motivated individuals willing to maximise opportunities for themselves and their fellow citizens, to improve the quality of life for all, hence allowing our great country to achieve its true potential." As part of measures aimed at achieving this goal, IMPACT she said, is poised to substantially increase the impact that our youth have on their respective communities as well as reduce the number of Nigerians who are forced to settle for mediocre circumstances because of poor planning or guidance.

Already, there are existing approaches to this problem, one of which is LEAP Africa, a non-profit organisation offering programmes targeted at youths who will develop into leaders to spearhead Africa's drive towards sustainable development. The LEAP Youth Leadership program offers exceptional youth activities and training programmes in cities across Nigeria targeted at building their leadership skills.

Another is Junior Achievement, a non-profit organisation that seeks to educate and inspire young people to value free enterprise, business and economics to improve the quality of their lives. Junior Achievement Nigeria (JAN) offers High School programmes which help students make informed, intelligent decisions about their future, and fosters skills that will be highly useful in the business world.

A pupil of Methodist Girls High School, Yaba, Esther Afolayan, expressed optimism that the programme would address students' areas of deficiency, "There are lots of things happening in our community that youths are not aware of. So, this is a very good initiative. Personally, it has given me so many ideas of things that youths are supposed to do in their present generation." Another pupil of Methodist Boys High School, Victoria Island, Michael Abuaja-Chinonso, expressed joy that through the programme, he had been able to double his academic challenges to attain leadership skills..."Through this medium, my concentration in my academics will improve because there is nothing than making the decision which you have always wanted to pursue and make it real. So, I really think my choices in life will systematically bring more opportunities my way in life," he said. --------------Oh, Doja, the other blog you were asking about...well now you know. It isn't really active yet but once it is, it'll be open to the public and will let you know.

afrobeat, how can i be part of this? I used to be a mentor to high pupils in the UK, 'twas a mentoring programme set up by govt., run by Uni pupils to high school pupils who were challenged in tehri academics etc... neways... I really like this, we shld gist as I have some other teaching experiences...

So which Porter's company r u? Monitor? My boss is a proteggee of pOrter, gave all employee a copy each to read for our xmass party retreat....that's nice really, we ahve more than a lot in common....will be in cali by mid April....we can yarn then

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The Afro Beat is a club/ forum/ virtual gathering place for individuals of Nigerian heritage or association, who (amongst other things) would like to do lotsa chatting and noise-making in the hopes of getting the sleeping giant to wake up!
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